Planning A Birthday Party (For A Sensory Challenged Child)

So Matthews 2nd birthday is fast approaching and while having a house party again like we had for his 1st sounds like a good plan, we’ve decided to opt for hiring a venue, thus removing the apocalyptic party aftermath that takes days to clean!

We’ve hired a small hall in one of our local leisure centres, which comes equipped with a soft play area as well as a separate room for eating. It’s the perfect size for our family and has been used by my sister in the past for her little ones parties.

The difficulty in organising a party this time around is that we know a lot more about Matthews condition and with him being older, he is a lot more symptomatic. Therefore there are a few things we are adjusting and adding to make this party as much fun for him as it will be for all of the other children in attendance.

We will be turning a small part of the eating area into a Quiet Zone. This will be a little tent that has pillows & blankets and an iPad set up to play Peppa Pig. This will be for when Matthew (and any other children) gets too overwhelmed in the play area.

All of the children in attendance will be encouraged not to scream. This will definitely be tough to enforce, and we want all the kids to enjoy themselves, but this is Matthews party and so it’s only fair that his needs are catered to primarily.

The ‘Happy Birthday’ song will only be sung if Matthews mood and temperament allows it. One of Matthews biggest triggers is group singing. If he’s tired and too overwhelmed then this upsets him, so we will make a decision on the day if it is safe to do so.

There will be a ball pool which Matthew loves, so I’m guessing that he will spend most of his time in there ignoring everybody around about him. In the instance that he is unhappy though, these little adjustments will act as fail safes for us and hopefully ensure that he still enjoys himself.

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My name is Danielle and I am a Wife, Photographer, ASD advocate & Preemie-Mummy to my beautiful little miracle Matthew. Follow along with me while I navigate the world of Toddlers and the Autism Spectrum.

This blog will be an open and honest representation of my life as a mummy as well as everything else in between.